Review: Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins (Hex Hall #3)

Spell Bound by Rachel Hawkins
Published :Tantor Media, Jul 2012
Unabridged Audio
Source: Bought
Look for this series on audio at Amazon

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A little about Spell Bound from goodreads:

Hailed as “impossible to put down,” the Hex Hall series has both critics and teens cheering. With a winning combination of romance, action, magic and humor, this third volume will leave readers enchanted.

Just as Sophie Mercer has come to accept her extraordinary magical powers as a demon, the Prodigium Council strips them away. Now Sophie is defenseless, alone, and at the mercy of her sworn enemies—the Brannicks, a family of warrior women who hunt down the Prodigium. Or at least that’s what Sophie thinks, until she makes a surprising discovery. The Brannicks know an epic war is coming, and they believe Sophie is the only one powerful enough to stop the world from ending. But without her magic, Sophie isn’t as confident.

Sophie’s bound for one hell of a ride—can she get her powers back before it’s too late?

This is the last book on the Hex Hall series. Spellbound offers Sophie the opportunity to learn about her origins. It is a book that offers plenty of surprising information about Sophie’s mother. For three books, her mother was been kept practically on the darkness, but in Spellbound we learn about her and finally we clearly understand why Sophie used to live everywhere. Sophie Mercer becomes a true heroine in this last installment of the series.

I rate Spellbound with 3 ½ stars. Although it has a good rhythm and creates interest in us, I prefer the previous books. Let's not forget the positive things this installment have:

• Sophie’s sarcastic humor is always present.
• Spellbound, in the tradition of the series ends every chapter with a cliffhanger which motivates the reader into reading continuously.
• Events developed in a logic way, not always surprising but logic for the story.
• Sophie is shown as a dynamic character.

Spellbound has some room for improvement.

• I find the ending to be trite. The development of events for Cal as a character has predictability written all over it. I wonder if the author created this character with more purpose than to be “the one who sacrifices for the good of the story”.
• The ending was lacking.

The end of the story is the part I have my reserves with. That last scene had dialog that read as boring and random. It didn't give a sense of achievement and satisfaction to the series after three books. It seems to me that the last minutes - 4 minutes I might add - of this audio could have been left into oblivion.

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Graphic Saturday! Wars in Toyland

Wars in Toyland by Joe Harris
Illustrated by Adam Pollina, Brent McCarthy and Nolan Woodard
Publisher: Oni Press/July 10th, 2013
Source: Netgalley for review purposes
Look for this at Amazon

A little about this title from goodreads:
Toyland was once a place of wonder and beauty, at least until the teddy dictator Roxbury took over. After Matthew's brother and playmate, Alex, disappears, Matthew finds himself carried into Toyland by his own loyal toy soldiers. Matthew soon learns that Alex has been here, too, held captive by Roxbury. Leading an attack on the teddy bear's fortress, Matthew never considers that his brother might be beyond saving.

Wars in Toyland is certainly an amusing comic book from the creative mind of Joe Harris. A fantastic wonderland has come to life by the skillful hands of illustrators Adam Pollina, Brent McCarthy and Nolan Woodard. This is a comic you should look forward to read for the story is quite imaginative.

Matthew is the hero on this story, a kid who enjoys playing with his toys and sharing that time with his brother Alex. At the end of one playing session he ends on a fantastic toyland a little by accident or perhaps a little by longing since his brother has been missing.

He arrived abruptly to a land built from toys, for toys and populated by toys...his toys. At his arrival he finds a clue of his brother's whereabouts, which motivates him to help the toys. Toyland is controlled by a Tediarchy and the toys need Mathew to lead them into war. Also, Mathew needs to free his brother. He will become the Captain of that army made of wood, cotton and all sort of things.

How beautiful this comic looks! Illustrations show character and high creative standards. Some illustrations show surrealistic influences, especially the images where the doll head was shown. The colors are beautifully done and are nice to look at. Cover art is well done and gives a perspective of what will be inside.

The story is creative and offers novelty in a theme previously used by other stories: Toys coming to life. It is delightfully entertaining. This comic is well written. The way the characters interact with each other is great. Matthew is the main character,but I consider soldier John to have part of that spotlight. He is a natural hero,loyal and a leader. Joe Harris did a really good job creating this characters.

Highly recommend this comic book!

Giving away some of those book piles!

I have been really short on free time lately.  Between home, work and family life has been crazy.
Recently, I took some time to check my books. I don't have space to keep piling books so I will be making some of you happy.

The books on the picture are books I want to giveaway.  Keep in mind these are  used books.  They were in boxes and have yellow pages but are in good shape.  So, let me know which book do you want and be quick.  Remember is just one book per winner and I just have one copy of each title.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Guest Post : Author Stephanie Parent

Today the Forty Days Blog Tour is making a stop at Jessy's Bookends with a guest post by author Stephanie Parent.

THE ANIMALS ON NOAH’S ARK

Which animals would actually have hitched a ride on Noah’s Ark? It’s a question you’ve probably never considered unless, like me, you’re writing a fictional version of the story. But once you start thinking about it, it’s kind of funny how

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTjRQK1NRotuefyatS_UaplC5B5Atn8Eu_sgku5uyuH52KKpfI0

and

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS5z-yb0RaAdOwcsF_vpx2qQe-048t_XOZzd0qhlAO3S9mKMCCcVw

always appear in images of the Ark, yet we never wonder why

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRSytjvh6Zau67Hmng5C1laWpfCxHNds-tf9JHc2VN357gGOwOM_w

and

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRTHOcXkbigMknHh7fBkBaZMPaSuUK3x8Lkdp8Qu5m_IZH6zT5IPQ

are absent. The truth is that the story of Noah’s Ark is a bit hard to take literally, and for my retelling, I quickly decided it would make more sense to include only animals living in the area where I chose to set the story. Since I settled on Turkey (you can read more about that in the Author’s Note included in the book), that meant no giraffes (native to Africa only) and no monkeys (Africa and parts of Asia), as well as no polar bears or penguins!

Another interesting (really, I swear!) issue is whether certain domesticated animals were even around at the time of Noah’s ark. It’s not something we think about, but somewhere between the Neolithic and Bronze Ages, wild goats like this one

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f6/Bezoarziege.jpg/250px-Bezoarziege.jpg

were domesticated into the animals we pet and feed on farms and petting zoos today, like this one.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Hausziege_04.jpg/240px-Hausziege_04.jpg

Cute, huh? :D

Of course, wild versions of goats, as well as sheep, cows, pigs, and other animals domesticated by the Bronze Age, still exist today, and these animals would have been included on the Ark as well.

And what about dogs, cats, and horses? While these animals were domesticated amazingly early in certain parts of the world—horses were domesticated in central Asia prior to 3500 BC, for example—I found no definitive evidence that they existed in Turkey during the Bronze Age, so I chose not to include them. Of course, there was no way I could list every single animal on the Ark as part of my book, so readers can definitely imagine wild dogs and cats on board if they like!

Forty Days (Neima's Ark #1) by Stephanie Parent
Release Date: 02/10/13
Pages: 125

Summary from Goodreads:
The entire village knows Neima’s grandfather is a madman. For years the old man has prophesied that a great flood is coming, a flood disastrous enough to blot out the entire earth. He’s even built an enormous ark that he claims will allow his family to survive the deluge. But no one believes the ravings of a lunatic…

…until the rain starts. And doesn’t stop. Soon sixteen-year-old Neima finds her entire world transformed, her life and those of the people she loves in peril. Trapped on the ark with her grandfather Noah, the rest of her family, and a noisy, filthy, and hungry assortment of wild animals, will Neima find a way to survive?

With lions, tigers, and bears oh my, elephants and flamingos too, along with rivalries and betrayals, a mysterious stowaway, and perhaps even an unexpected romance, FORTY DAYS is not your grandfather’s Noah’s Ark story.

FORTY DAYS is approximately 45000 words, the length of a shorter novel, and is the first installment in a two-part epic story. It does contain a cliffhanger ending.

Readers looking for a traditional, religiously oriented version of the Noah’s Ark story should be warned that FORTY DAYS may not appeal to them. The novel will, however, appeal to lovers of apocalyptic fiction, historical fiction, and romance, as well as anyone who’s ever dreamed of having a baby elephant as a pet.

About the Author

Stephanie Parent is a graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program at USC and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts as a piano major. She moved to Los Angeles because of Francesca Lia Block's WEETZIE BAT books, which might give you some idea of how much books mean to her. She also loves dogs, books about dogs, and sugary coffee drinks both hot and cold.


Look for the title at Amazon / Kobo / BN

Blog Tour hosted by YA Bound.

Blog Tour: Fire by Heather James

Fire by Heather James

Published: January 2013
Series: Elements of Fire 
Look for this at amazon

Visit the series at http://heatherfjames.blogspot.co.uk/p/home.html

 About Fire from goodreads:

Is control over the elements a gift, or a curse? Roxy thinks that she is in control of everything: with flames flaring at her fingertips and an equally fiery attitude, what more could she need? But then she meets Brae, a prince from a rival Realm, who turns her assumptions of superiority upside down. Jasmine has none of Roxy’s confidence or intensity. But she does have a secret - and Brae - and she’s not going to give either up willingly.

Fire is a young adult fantasy story protagonized by Jasmine and Roxy. Heather James use both of them to show us two different points of view. These girls are extremes, one extroverted and free, the other introverted and secretive. During the story both of them find a point in common when both of them converge with similar feelings towards their male counterpart. During a relevant climatic set of events where his well being is threaten, the best and the worst emerge from these girls. It is in that moment in the story that Roxy won me and Jasmine looked the worst to me.

The end of this book has an ending open to adventure. Also, it was an ending where I wish Roxy could speak. I really hope Roxy have the opportunity to revindicate herself in the next book. Roxy is the character who showed more development. Both Jasmine and Roxy are well thought characters that easily can support a series.

The writing style of James is entertaining and keeps the reader turning pages. The idea of Fire is engaging. It reminds me to the animation series Avatar The Last Airbender with the use of the concept of power to manipulate the elements. I recommend Fire for YA readers, Fantasy readers and well, readers in general. Fire is a good introduction for new fantasy readers.

INTERVIEW :

As part of this blog tour we have the visit of author Heather James for a quick interview.

What literary genres do you read? Has any story being the literary fuel to inspire you in writing Fire? I read a lot of YA, particularly fantasy and paranormal novels. I don't think that any one story inspired Fire, but I can think of a lot of writers who have probably influenced my writing style: J K Rowling and Meg Cabot are two of the biggest, since I read so much of their work growing up.

What inspirations are behind the groups in Fire? The Realms were actually taken from an earlier story idea which was all about pirates (I think the third POTC film had just come out at the time). After an opening that I'm still really proud of, the rest of the story faltered and I gave up on it, but I kept the idea of the element-based groups for another work. When I started on a fantasy story, everything fell into place.

Is any of the characters more dear to you? Why? I love Roxy and Jasmine equally - they are both very different and Fire wouldn't work without either of them, as they compliment each other so well. And there are very different things that I like when I write about them - neither react to situations in the way that I would, so there's always a lot to think about.

Do you plan on continuing the series with the same characters or do you plan to show us other characters developing in this same world? The next two books in the series, Water and Air, will focus on the same characters and general plot line. I am toying with the idea of writing a compilation of short stories about different characters and releasing it as 'Earth', but I haven't decided on anything yet, other than that these particular characters will only be the focus of three books.

Any quick words for your readers? If you have already read Fire, then thank you very much - especially for all of the amazing feedback and support I have received. If you haven't, then please check it out soon, I would love to hear what you think.